


Misadventures

by kalawakan



Category: SEVENTEEN (Band)
Genre: Demigod!AU, M/M
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2016-06-28
Updated: 2016-08-19
Packaged: 2018-07-14 00:38:01
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 6
Words: 10,775
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/7145012
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/kalawakan/pseuds/kalawakan
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>What could go wrong with a simple misadventure?</p>
            </blockquote>





	1. +++

**NORSE**

 

 

 **Aesir** \- race of the gods and goddesses of war

 **Alfheim** \- home of the Light Elves

 **Asgard** \- home of the Aesir

 **Bifröst bridge** \- the “Rainbow Bridge”; reaches between Midgard and Asgard

 **Egil Skallagrímsson** \- a Viking poet, warrior, and farmer

 **Eikthyrnir** \- a hart in Valhalla

 **einherjar** \- _sing_. einherji; those who have died in battle and are brought to Valhalla

 **Erik the Red** \- Norwegian Viking and explorer

 **Frigg** \- wife of Odin

 **Gjallarhorn** \- horn of Heimdallr

 **Heimdallr** \- the watchman of the gods; guardian of the Bifröst bridge

 **Hel** \- appointed by Odin to rule over Helheim

 **Helheim** \- world of the goddess Hel

 **Ivar the Boneless** \- Viking leader; commander of the Great Heathen Army

 **Jörmungandr** \- the World Serpent

 **Jötunheim** \- home of the Giants

 **Lærâth** \- tree inside Valhalla

 **Loki** \- god of mischief

 **Mani** \- god/personification of the moon

 **Midgard** \- realm of humans; Earth

 **Muspelheim** \- home of the fire Giants and Demons

 **Nidavellir** \- home of the Dwarves

 **Niflheim** \- overlaps with Helheim

 **Nine Realms** \- Asgard, Vanaheim, Alfheim, Midgard, Jötunheim, Svartalfheim, Nidavellir, Niflheim, Muspelheim

 **Nótt** \- goddess/personification of night

 **Odin** \- the Allfather

 **Ragnarök** \- doom of the gods and humans; final battle between the Aesir and the Jotuns

 **Ratatoskr** \- squirrel that runs up and down the World Tree

 **Svartalfheim** \- home of the Dark Elves

 **Thor** \- god of thunder, rain, and farming

 **Týr** \- a god of war

 **Valhalla** \- lit. “hall of the slain”; enormous hall located in Asgard

 **valkyrie** \- “chooser of the slain”

 **Valknut** - knot of a slain warrior; a symbol consisting of three interlocked triangles

 **Vanaheim** \- home of the Vanir race

 **Vanir** \- race of the fertility gods and goddesses

 

 

**GREEK**

 

 

 **Aphrodite** \- goddess of beauty, love, desire, and pleasure

 **Apollo** \- god of music, arts, knowledge, healing, plague, prophecy, poetry, manly beauty, and archery

 **Ares** \- god of war, bloodshed, and violence

 **Artemis** - goddess of the hunt, wilderness, animals, young girls, childbirth, and plague

 **Athena** \- goddess of wisdom, intelligence, skill, peace, warfare, battle strategy, and handicrafts

 **Atropos** \- oldest of the Three Fates; also known as the " _inevitable_ ", she is the one responsible for cutting the thread of life

 **Cercopes** \- mischievous forest creatures; monkey-like men

 **Chimera** \- monstrous fire-breathing creature; often depicted as a lion with a head of a goat arising from its back, and a tail that ends with a snake's head

 **Clotho** \- youngest of the Three Fates; responsible for spinning the thread of human life

 **Cyclops** \- one-eyed giants

 **Demeter** \- goddess of grain, agriculture, harvest, growth, and nourishment

 **Dionysus** \- god of wine, fruitfulness, parties, festivals, madness, chaos, drunkenness, vegetation, and ecstasy

 **Hades** \- king of the underworld and god the dead

 **Hephaestus** \- god of fire, metalworking, and crafts

 **Hera** \- goddess of marriage, women, childbirth, and family

 **Heracles** \- gatekeeper of Olympus; god of strength, heroes, sports, athletes, health, agriculture, fertility, trade, oracles and divine protector of mankind

 **Hermes** \- god of boundaries, travel, communication, trade, language, and writing

 **Hestia** - goddess of the hearth, home, and chastity

 **Hippogriff** \- a creature that has the front half of an eagle and the hind half of a horse; symbol of the god Apollo

 **Lachesis** \- second of the Three Fates; the measurer of the thread spun on Clotho's spindle

 **Moirai**  - the _Three Fates_ ; white-robed incarnations of destiny; Clotho, Lachesis, Atropos

 **Pegasus** \- a pure white winged stallion

 **Poseidon** \- god of the sea, rivers, floods, droughts, and earthquakes

 **Zeus** \- king of the gods, ruler of Mount Olympus, and god of the sky, weather, thunder, lightning, law, order, and justice

 

 

**ROMANS**

 

 

 **Apollo** \- god of the Sun, music, poetry, and oracles

 **Bacchus** \- god of wine

 **Bellona** \- goddess of the destructive and belligerent aspects of war, conquest, and peace

 **Centurion** \- Captain; has a hundred men under his command

 **Ceres** \- goddess of agriculture

 **Cupid** \- god of love

 **Diana** \- goddess of hunting and animals

 **Flora** \- goddess of flowers and spring

 **Fortuna** \- goddess of fortune

 **Imperator** \- supreme military commander

 **Janus** \- god of beginnings, endings, transition, doorways, and keys

 **Juno** \- queen of the gods; goddess of marriage and women. protector and counsellor of Rome

 **Jupiter** \- king of the gods; god of thunderstorms, lightning, weather, air, law, order, justice, governance, and strength

 **Legatus** \- second highest rank in the Roman army after the Imperator

 **Mars** \- god of war, spring, and justice; patron of the Roman Legions and divine father of Romulus and Remus

 **Mercury** \- messenger of the gods; god of commerce and finance

 **Minerva** \- goddess of wisdom, divine counsel, science, useful arts, crafts, and later war

 **Mithras** \- god of soldiers, light, truth, and honor

 **Neptune** \- god of the seas, earthquakes, hurricanes, and horses

 **Pluto** \- god of the underworld and afterlife

 **Saturn** \- god of harvest and agriculture

 **Venus** \- goddess of love and beauty

 **Vesta** \- goddess of the hearth and the Roman state

 **Vulcan** \- god of fire, the forge, and blacksmiths


	2. I

Jeonghan stares at the man lying on the bed parallel to his. It feels weird to look at him—just lying there without any movement at all. He remembers his first time here: how he wakes up with a really bad headache three days after he had been slain. Since he had been taken up in Valhalla (which is probably a thousand of years ago by now when he fell to Jörmungandr), Jeonghan's room only had a single bed. Until yesterday... when he woke up to someone snoring softly on the other side of his massive room.

There's something about the man that Jeonghan can't simply put his finger on. His aura is different. **_Powerful_** , yes—but different. It's probably one of the most powerful auras that Jeonghan has ever sensed ever since he encountered Heimdallr in person. It's godlike and it's addicting.

Most of the times, he can guess whose son or daughter an einherji is before his father, or the völvur with their runes, declare it. Except for this one. _A son of Thor?_ Jeonghan wonders. _Could this be the reason why the almighty hammer-wielding god has been silent these days?_

“Jeonghan?”

He hears the oak door creak and sees a smiling Wonwoo on the door. Jeonghan couldn't help but smile, too. The boy has been through a lot, especially in the mortal world, that seeing him smiling is such rare sight. He motions for Wonwoo to come inside and gives his scattered pillows a quick fix.

“He's still not waking up, huh?” Wonwoo nods to the sleeping man on the bed, his deep voice reverberating.

Jeonghan shrugs, “Probably a few days more. His snores bother me, though.”

Wonwoo laughs and sits next to him, “Figured out who's his godly parent, yet?”

Jeonghan smiles and shakes his head, “I'm almost there.”

He remembers the first time he met Wonwoo, a thin teenager admiring the Eikthyrnir eat on top of the Lærâth. Jeonghan wasn't even sure why he's there in the first place since Wonwoo looked like someone you can kill with a single blow of a bat—until Jeonghan sensed the aura emanating from the other. Unlike valkyries, he can't see the ‘golden aura’ of an einherji, making him rely more on his senses—and the feeling that Jeonghan got from Wonwoo that day still gives him chills. It's dark and quiet like a deep well. Jeonghan knew by then that after a thousand years, he's come face to face again with a mortal son of Loki.

Except he didn't expect them to be friends this time.

“The gods are quiet,” Wonwoo says in a hushed whisper, only enough for Jeonghan to hear. The other's tone sounds suspicious, as if he's trying to send him a hidden message between those four short words.

Jeonghan turns to him, “It's only been a few days.”

“I know,” Wonwoo says, “but what if it has something to do with my father?”

“Wonwoo," Jeonghan says quickly, “your father is in chains, remember?”

The other sighs, “My father is also a trickster; it's hard being a son of Loki, you know? Everyone's pointing at you.”

Jeonghan pats him on the shoulder, aiming for a hug, when they both suddenly hear a loud horn from outside. They both stand up and immediately check the windows.

“Heimdallr?” Wonwoo asks. Jeonghan looks at the end of the massive rainbow bridge where the owner of the sound should be but sees nothing. It's still deserted like it has been for the past three days.

“No,” Jeonghan looks at the horn-shaped pendant on his nightstand before turning back to Wonwoo, “Mingyu.”

Jeonghan rushes to the field, wearing only half of his armor, with Wonwoo struggling to catch up behind him. “ **Mingyu**!” He yells and tackles the tall man from behind, causing both of them to fall down on the ground.

“You fucking idiot,” Jeonghan says, locking him with his elbows, “did you use the Gjallarhorn?”

Mingyu snorts and holds Jeonghan's face closer to his, “What if I did?”

He looks straight through Mingyu's eyes and the other looks up in the sky, gulping as he sees Jeonghan's creation above. He doesn't need to see what the other's looking at, though. Jeonghan can picture it perfectly in his mind: the dark clouds rolling over from behind the tall buildings of the Valhalla, the lightning flashing through it like swords and the cold wind howling in the distance. He clenches his jaw and a loud booming thunder roared in the skies.

“ _I'm kidding! I'm kidding!_ ” Mingyu shouts. Jeonghan blinks and the skies clear up. He hears the other give out a sigh of relief and gets off of him.

“You know, Jeong,” Mingyu starts, dusting his reindeer-hide tunic before picking up his round shield and battle axe, “for someone who's over a thousand years old, you sure cuss out like a modern young adult.”

Wonwoo helps Jeonghan up, “It's because he's always in Midgard, smart-ass.”

“What's wrong if I used the Gjallarhorn, though?” Mingyu continues without batting an eye at Wonwoo, “I'm a son of Heimdallr, anyway.”

“It's sacred,” Jeonghan deadpans. Wonwoo rolls his eyes at Mingyu, “The Gjallarhorn is the one which will signal—”

“I don't mean to be rude, but I'm not talking to you,” Jeonghan watches as Mingyu looks at Wonwoo from head to toe, “son of Loki.” He rolls his tongue over on the god’s name, emphasizing it.

“Enough,” Jeonghan orders, “Whatever business your fathers have with each other, let it go.”

Mingyu turns to Jeonghan, “I'll talk to you later,” Jeonghan and Wonwoo both watch as Mingyu run towards Erik the Red, one of Thor's sons, waiting for his command.

“Who's your goal today?” Wonwoo asks quietly beside him, still staring at the tall, lean man whom he was talking to just moments ago. Jeonghan shrugs and picks up his golden sword, “Egil. You?” Jeonghan looks over his shoulder and sees Wonwoo’s eyes which are now pitch black.

The other smiles, “Mingyu.”

 

 

ᛟ

 

  
Egil Skallagrímsson is one of the most brutal person (probably next in line to Erik the Red and Ivar the Boneless) that Jeonghan has ever laid his eyes upon. The man had his first kill when he was only seven and can wield any weapon he can take hold of; but other than being a son of Týr and his poetry, Jeonghan can't seem to find the reason why most einherjar are afraid of him.

Jeonghan points his sword up in the skies and channels whatever energy he can find. He doesn't usually do this—only once every ten years or whenever he feels like he needs the newcomers know he's the boss—because everyone would suspect; and suspecting will just give him a shitload of enemies to kill. His father didn't let his brother to claim him as his son for no reason.

A lightning connects to the tip of his sword and Jeonghan feels the energy buzz, waking up all the cells inside his body. He senses people coming up from behind of him, the faint clicking of their chainmail singing softly on his ears. Jeonghan quickly swings his sword in a circular motion before turning around and plunging it on someone’s stomach.

“One,” He whispers with a smile, holding the einherji's nape softly like a lover before twisting the blade inside and pulling it out. He continues his killing spree, casually switching from using his sword, his bow and arrows and throwing the abandoned spears on the ground. He just finished his fifty third kill when he sees a very particular man on berserk, killing everyone around him with a single whack of his massive battle axe. Jeonghan grins to himself. Fun.

“ ** _Son of Thor!_** ” Egil Skallagrímsson bellows, running his hand on his snow white beard as he waits for Jeonghan to reach him. Jeonghan walks toward him slowly, a mocking grin on his face.

“Where's your horde, old man? Dead already?”

He watches Egil's face contorts, uglier than his usual face, and Jeonghan's grin widens more, “Hit a nerve, didn't I? Don't worry, they'll all come back to life soon.” That's probably the only problem Jeonghan has with staying in Valhalla; you'll only be dead for less than ten minutes.

“You fucking _cunt,_ ” The old man spats on the ground and Jeonghan's eyes follows his spit, taking note of where it landed so he wouldn't step it later on, “You'll pay for insulting my horde.”

Jeonghan winks at him, “Try me.”

Egil throws his spear at him which Jeonghan dodges smoothly before running towards him. He looks at the old man's free hand then back at the one holding the battle axe. Jeonghan sees four of Egil's fingers dig on the wooden handle.

 **Left**.

Egil raises his arm and Jeonghan stops just before he passes on the old man's left side. He takes a quick step backward and slashes his sword on the right side of Egil Skallagrímsson's stomach. _Sweet contact_. The old man screams in pain, his blood pouring nonstop from where Jeonghan cut him, “It's a shame you forgot, old man.”

Egil drops his axe and Jeonghan seizes the moment to move behind him, dropping his sword and pulling out the dagger from his belt. He smiles, “Today is Thursday.”

Jeonghan cuts the old man's throat with his blade before moving in front of him and pulling out Egil's throat with his free hand. Jeonghan throws the remains on the ground and wipes his hands on the old man’s beard.

“Are you done?”

He looks up and sees Wonwoo sitting on top of the hill, watching him. Jeonghan raises both his thumbs up and looks back on the body on the ground. He waves his hand and let the wind carry the remains away before climbing up the hill.

“Did you kill Mingyu?” Jeonghan asks, helping Wonwoo stand up.

The other grins, “Of course.”

“How did you do it?”

Wonwoo looks at him, his eyes darker than before. Jeonghan can feel the hairs on his back straighten up. The other chuckles and winks, his eyes changing back to their original color, “I tricked him, of course.”

Jeonghan rolls his eyes at him and tousles Wonwoo's hair. The other really is full of surprises. They made their way to the dining area where most of the ones he killed on the field are already seated.

“Everyone, gather 'round!” Erik the Red commands, his voice making the whole Valhalla shake. It has always been like this: the most famous people of the old time (aka the _**oldies**_ , as Wonwoo calls them) are the ones handling the welcoming ceremony every Thursday night as a tribute to Thor, who probably fathers half of the people in the hall.

They start off with the usual—acknowledging the newcomers’ heroic deeds in the mortal world; eating the meat of Sæhrímnir; drinking the mead of Heithrún and talking about whatever people talk during their past time. Jeonghan's about to bring his food upstairs when Erik the Red steps up on the podium again.

“Three days passed and we still don't have any contact with the gods,” The room erupts into a chaos. Erik raises a hand up, “that's why we've decided to start a quest.”

“You're not allowed to,” Jeonghan says. The hall quiets down, only soft whispers from the other einherjar around them.

“Are you questioning our authority, son of Thor?”

Jeonghan looks at Egil Skallagrímsson, who spoke, and smiles, “How's your throat?”

“As I said,” Erik the Red interrupts, “we will start a quest. Tomorrow before first light, and only the best are going to be sent out."

“Lord Odin didn’t grant you any permission to start a quest.” Jeonghan retorts. Erik ignores him and takes out a piece of parchment made from animal skin.

“The names of the warriors included are Mingyu, son of Heimdallr; Yebin, daughter of Nótt; Minkyung, daughter of Mani, and...” Erik the Red pauses and looks at Jeonghan, “Wonwoo, son of Loki.”

Jeonghan clinks his teeth and small dark clouds appear each on top of Erik the Red's head and the rest of the oldies sitting on the long table in front. He stands up, holding a tray of untouched food and shrugs at them, “You guys smell so I thought you might need a little shower.”

He hurries upstairs with the tray and lets his clouds do the work.

 

 

ᛟ

 

 

Jeonghan enters his room and places the tray on the nearby table. In all honesty, he's not mad because he wasn't picked—since he can climb down the Yggdrasil anytime he wants, whether the stupid council agrees or not—but it's because they paired up Mingyu and Wonwoo in this quest and Frigg knows how much those two can't stand each other. He takes of his boots off when he sees a figure on the corner of his eyes.

He's awake.

“Are you the owner of that bed?” The man asks and Jeonghan just stares at him. He looks... really different than when he was sleeping.

Jeonghan clears his throat, “Yeah. I'm Jeonghan, by the way,” He motions to the food on the table, “I brought you food. I'm sorry I'm all dirty and shit.”

“No, it's okay,” The man says, “I'm Seungcheol.”

Jeonghan couldn't help but stare at him again. There's something with this man that's pulling him closer and he doesn't have any idea what it is. _Are we brothers?_ Jeonghan wonders. _If so, why does he not have father's symbol on any of his wrists?_

“I didn't know the Underworld is this nice,” Seungcheol says, sitting down on his bed.

Jeonghan pauses, “Underworld?”

“Yeah,” Seungcheol nods, looking out through the window next to his bed.

“Do you know who your godly parent is?”

Seungcheol looks at him, “Zeus.”

Jeonghan stares at him before putting a hand on his forehead. “Shit,” he mutters to himself. That's the reason why he can't sense the other's aura no matter how hard he tries. It's because he's not part of their world.

“Is there something wrong?” He hears the other ask. Jeonghan stands up and takes a quick shower, leaving behind a confused Seungcheol. Jeonghan takes his time, thinking about how the Greek got delivered in Valhalla because he's pretty sure he didn't sense anyone entering his room that night—and out of all the empty rooms, why did they put him in his?

 _If they discover his true identity, they'll send him straight to Hel_.

Jeonghan calculates the amount of time that an einherji will consume to climb down the Yggdrasil. If what Erik the Red said is true, the quest will start in about eight hours. Jeonghan needs to work fast and since he can't trust Mingyu on this, he'll need to do it alone. With the Greek. He turns off the shower, towels himself and puts on a fresh new white shirt and a pair of pants. Jeonghan looks for bigger clothes and underwear inside his wardrobe and hangs them by his shoulder.

Once he steps outside of the shower room, Jeonghan puts the clothes down on Seungcheol's bed. “Go shower and change. Eat, too. We need to leave as soon as possible. The council can't know you're here.”

“What? Why? Where am I?”

“You're in Valhalla.”

Jeonghan watches as the realization hits Seungcheol.

“Now, go,” He orders. Seungcheol stands up, but before he enters the shower room, he looks back at Jeonghan, “Are you sure we can do that?”

Jeonghan looks straight into his eyes, “No one can stop a son of Odin.”


	3. II

“Hansol,” Joshua calls out with a whine, raking his fork on the wooden table. Good thing only a few of them are in the cafeteria or else someone already smacked the shit out of Joshua for causing such an irritating noise. The other's been like this for almost four days and Hansol can only scratch his head in annoyance. It's not that he's annoyed with Joshua as a person, he's just annoyed because the other won't stop asking him the same damn question every five minutes. Hansol doesn't look up from the book he's reading and sips on his Diet Coke instead.

Joshua throws something at him, making him look up and dodge it smoothly. Hansol sees the other pouting, his head slumped on the table while looking at the empty plate in front of him. He doesn't want to admit it but the other really looks adorable—especially when he's like this, “Why are you ignoring me?”

“Josh,” Hansol starts and the other straightens up, ready for what he's about to say. He sees the excitement in Joshua's eyes and Hansol stops. Instead of continuing what he's about to say, Hansol focuses back on the book he's reading.

“Hey!” Joshua yells, throwing a crumpled tissue paper at him. Hansol adjusts his glasses and closes his book. He looks at Joshua with a straight face, “What do you want me to say, Josh?”

Joshua holds his chin up, “I just want to know where Seungcheol is and you—”

“How many times do I have to tell you that I don't know where he is?”

“You're his younger brother,” Joshua answers like that's enough reason for Hansol to know where and what Seungcheol's doing right now. Hansol raises his brows and sighs, gathering all his things and slinging his backpack on one shoulder.

“Where are you going?”

He turns away from Joshua and walks out of the cafeteria without answering the other's question.

Their school, hidden inside the dense forest somewhere in the Amazon, is the biggest school that Hansol has laid his eyes upon. It has a wide covered gymnasium that's used for combat training and a vast field for outdoor games. One thing that Hansol learned from the Greeks is that they take their games **_waaaay_** too seriously. _Tag? Armor up, we need to have a winner. Word puzzle? Wear your full armor, we need to have a winner. Fastest one to wash the dishes? Make sure you're wearing your breastplate because **we need to have a winner**_. Yes, it's that serious. Inside their school—which is a tribute to the goddess of wisdom, Athena—is where they learn the normal things that are also learned in the mortal world: Arts, Maths Science, Languages, Fantastic Beasts and Where to Find Them, How To Have More Followers on Twitter and basically everything that's out there. Oh, it's also where they learn to control their gifts.

But as grand as this all may sound, Hansol still hopes that they'll just stick up with the good ol' camp like the one in the most famous demigod series.

“What's wrong this time?”

He sits on the chair behind Seungkwan and drops the book he's reading with a loud thud. He looks at his old, leather-strapped watch then opens the page where he left off. Seungkwan turns to him, “It's Joshua again, isn't it?”

Hansol glares at him and focuses back on his book he's reading.

“You know,” Seungkwan says, grabbing the book away from him, “I used to think Joshua is your friend.”

“He **_is_** my friend.”

“Really?” Seungkwan asks with a smile.

Hansol knits his eyebrows as he figures out what the other one is trying to tell him, “I don't swing that way, if that's what you mean.”

Seungkwan puts down the book on his desk and points at a line on the bottom part of the page before turning away from him the very same time that their professor, with his receding hairline and weird high cut boots, enters the room. Hansol drags the book towards him with two fingers and reads the part that Seungkwan pointed out.

' _Maybe what they said is true after all—that it's better to deny reality than to accept it. The question is... how long am I going to pretend that everything's all right?_ ''

 

  
Ψ

 

  
His brother was about two years old when his mother got pregnant with him. She never talked about his father, though; and the only thing that Hansol could ever remember about him, before he got summoned by the High Council, was that his father looks like a business man with a nice beard. The only other thing that his mother told him was that she met his father at the beach then nine months later and boom! Welcome to the cruel world, baby Hansol.

It's a rare thing to get knocked up by a god or a goddess but his mother is a special one—getting knocked up not only by one... but by two. That's why everybody was so shocked when Poseidon's symbol magically glowed on his wrist the night he was claimed.

It's probably why he can't get along with Seungcheol no matter how hard he tries. His brother is a great person, yes, but they're just really... different. His brother feels more at home when he's up in the sky while Hansol feels more at home when he's completely under water.

“Where's your cute friend?” Junhui sits beside him, wearing his complete armor. Unlike the rest of them, sons and daughters of Ares, Athena and Hephaestus have different designs of armors. Their armors are more complex and detailed, fit for whatever trinkets they have up their sleeves and Junhui, being a son and the appointed team leader of Ares, probably has more blades strapped on him than any other person around them.

“Why are you wearing that?” Hansol asks, looking at Junhui from head to toe.

The other takes off his helmet and runs a hand through his hair, “Answering my question with another question. Nice.”

Hansol shrugs, “I don't know where he is.”

Junhui raises a brow at him, a smile painted on his face. Hansol gives him a slight push on his arm, “Piss off.”

“Cut the act, bro. It doesn't suit you.”

“What do you mean?”

Junhui reaches for his eyeglasses and Hansol instantly shields away from him. It's not that he's afraid Junhui will break it (which the other can totally do just by touching it, by the way), it's because it almost cost him his life when he step foot back in the mortal realm. When a demigod is claimed by their godly parent, their senses become sharp as a blade. Any physical flaw in their body will heal and go back to the same way it was.

Therefore, Hansol's eyeglasses are just for show.

“I can't believe you,” Junhui chuckles, “here you are, the only son of the god of the seas, yet you wear glasses for the son of your father's least favorite niece.”

“I don't wear them for him,” Hansol snaps, “it's because they look good on me.”

“Nope,” Junhui deadpans. The other stands up and puts on his helmet, “Wear your armor. Race of arms today.”

 

  
Ψ

 

  
The race of arms has long been around since ancient Greece and like any other I-Love-Our-Tradition! people, their school practices the same. Except they spiced it up.

“You two! Move to the left flank!” Junhui orders the two sons of Apollo. Hansol runs towards the nearest tree and unsheathes his sword—a glowing cerulean blade forged out of pure gold by his half-brothers under the sea, the Cyclops—feeling the hum of it on his palm. Hansol looks on his back to check if there are other people are still running before silently moving towards the beast.

The Chimera is by far the weirdest thing that Hansol has ever seen this month. Just a few days ago, they were battling ancient, forest spirits called the Cercopes that earned him a scratch on his left stomach and as much as Hansol hates race of arms, he can't do anything about it—after all, he's the only hero of Poseidon left.

He continues inching towards the beast when he accidentally trips on a pointed rock, blowing off his cover. The Chimera, hearing the rustle of dried leaves, turns to him; the goat on his back spewing flames at each direction as the lion roars at him.

“Jackson?” Hansol calls out, “Now would be a really great time.”

Just as the beast is running towards him, Hansol hears a loud flap of wings from above. Jackson, son of Apollo, hovers above him while riding a hippogriff. The other aims his spear at the head on the back of the Chimera while Hansol readies himself to attack the front part of the beast.

“Now!” Jackson shouts from above and Hansol swings his sword as the beast lifts its upper body part to claw at him. The Chimera howls in pain when the spear pierces through its back and Hansol takes this chance to thrust his sword on the beast's chest.

He drops on the ground at the same time the Chimera puffs in thin air. It will take about fifty to a hundred years before it reforms once again (seeing as things are doing well in Tartarus), making Hansol thankful that the original Chimera won't hunt him in his lifetime.

“Stop resting,” Jackson yells with a smile on his face, “we're still on a race.”

Hansol rolls his eyes and sheathes his sword. He pushes two fingers inside his mouth and blows.

“Oh, boy,” Jackson says, pulling his hippogriff to the direction of the finish line.

Strong winds envelop his surrounding and Pegasus stops in front of him, “Need help, bud?”

Hansol nods, too tired to answer his half-brother. Pegasus makes a sound, “Climb on, then. Quickly. You look like you're going to pass out.”

 

  
Ψ

 

  
Hansol wakes up with a really bad headache and a hand entwined with his own. He slowly opens his eyes and sees a tumble of hair on the edge of his bed.

 ** _Joshua_**.

He smiles because he can't help it. Hansol stares at him for a couple of minutes, admiring the sight before him. Even though they've been joined at the hip since Hansol got in, he has never seen the other sleep before—not just because they have separate dorm rooms—it's just that everytime he sees Joshua, the other's always awake and doing something productive. _Like staring at his brother as much as he can._

Hansol squeezes Joshua's hand and the other wakes up immediately like there's an emergency.

“Is there something wrong?” Joshua asks, placing the back of his hand on Hansol's forehead, “Do you need something? Water?”

Hansol chuckles and shakes his head, “Just you.”

“What?”

“I mean,” Hansol smiles, not caring about the other's confused expression. It must be his subconscious talking, “just stay with me.”

He chuckles as Joshua tries his best to hide his blush. The other clears his throat, “I'm sorry I pissed you off awhile ago.”

“It's fine,” Hansol says, squeezing Joshua's hand again, “I'm sorry for acting that way too.”

He sits up, with Joshua supporting him, and Hansol turns to the other, making their faces just an inch away from touching. You know that feeling when you're done with life and don't care if you fuck up anymore? That's exactly what Hansol's feeling right now. His gaze drops from Joshua's eyes to the other's lips then back to his eyes again. Hansol tilts his head to the side and waits for the other to move. Instead of backing away, Joshua shuts his eyes tightly and Hansol leans in...

“ ** _Oh my gods, I'm so sorry_ _!_** ” Seokmin bursts out. Joshua instantly backs away and clears his throat before smiling at Seokmin. Hansol glares at the man leaning on the door, “What is it?”

Seokmin breathes in and out, “It's your brother. He's back.”


	4. III

Mingyu absolutely **hates** the fact that he's part of a stupid quest with the only person in Valhalla that he has issues with. He also **hates** the idea of going along with two valkyries—Minkyung and Yebin. They might not seem like it but they're tough as Frigg; Yebin can kill a dozen men in about two minutes while Minkyung can lure them to death with her beauty. The only con about being in a quest with two valkyries is that they like to separate in groups, which means there's a big fat chance that both of them will leave him with _**him**_.

 _It should've been Jeonghan_ , he thinks. He can feel it in his bones that those old men are just trying to get back at Jeonghan and it's probably also the reason why they announced Wonwoo's name instead of his. He talked to Erik the Red about it, and why he can't be on a quest with a son of Loki, but the only answer he got was, "Stop whining, lad."

Mingyu takes a sharp turn to the left and just continues his straight path until he reaches the last door on his right—Jeonghan's room. He can already imagine the other's face when he tells him they're about to leave. Jeonghan has always been Odin's favorite grandson; he's always been the only warrior deployed with Thor into whichever world Odin tells them to go. Being not able to join to go down the Yggdrasil must feel very degrading to him.

He makes three soft knocks on the oak door, “Jeong?”

_**Nothing.** _

He knocks again but no one answers. Mingyu twists the door handle and hears the lock click. It's open. He pushes the door slowly while keeping a sharp eye out for any movement inside the room. Who knows? Jeonghan might be trolling him. Mingyu opens the door out wide and checks the back of it, wondering if the other's hiding there with something to knock him out, and sees no one behind it. He notices another empty bed inside the other's room before calling out again, “Jeonghan?”

Mingyu carefully opens every possible door than can be opened inside the other's room but finds nothing else. He moves to the window, opens it and sees small rocks patterned all the way towards the bottom. An easy escape route. Mingyu quickly goes out of the room to ask Erik the Red about this when he bumps into someone, causing him to fall down with the other person landing on top of his chest.

“Didn't someone tell you,” A familiar voice starts while getting up, “to look where you're going?”

Mingyu looks up—still shamelessly lying on the floor—to see Wonwoo dusting off his plain, black tee. The other glares at him and Mingyu has no other choice but to glare back as he stands up, “What the hell are you doing on this floor?”

“I'm going to bid a farewell to my friend. Is that also forbidden?” Wonwoo looks to Jeonghan's room's open door and raises a brow. The other moves towards the room, completely ignoring Mingyu's protests and the other scans the place, as if looking for something, before carefully picking up a piece of paper on the table.

“What's that?” Mingyu asks, “I swear, son of Loki, if you know anything about this esc—”

“Why are you so dramatic?” Wonwoo waves the paper up and gives it to him. Mingyu snatches it away and reads it.

The only content of the paper is a small DON'T GO LOOKING FOR ME, the words written in Jeonghan's handwriting, and a poorly drawn Othala ᛟ—the symbol of Odin—on the lower right corner. Mingyu lifts his head up and sees Wonwoo staring at the opened windows, “What is it?”

“Don't you remember what I told you yesterday?” Wonwoo looks at him straight in the eyes. Everything around them seems to stop and Mingyu finds himself staring at the other with his mouth open. Wonwoo casts a lopsided grin, “Jeonghan is always in Midgard.”

Mingyu watches the other leave out the room before placing a hand on his chest. **_What just happened?_**

 

 

ᛞ

 

 

They gather up in the hall, waiting for Erik the Red and his old mates to appear before them in the old-fashioned way. Mingyu looks around and sees Wonwoo, sitting on the far end of the long table that's two tables away from his. For someone who's about to embark the journey for his first quest, Wonwoo looks like he's only going to a summer camp. Mingyu tries to listen to the other's heartbeat (wondering if Wonwoo's face is just something to deceive everyone that he's not scared) and it's surprisingly normal.

“ **Vikings**!” A booming voice cleared all of Mingyu's thoughts away. Erik the Red raises his battle axe, “This is the day that we will send our noble warriors on a quest to seek for answers about the gods!”

The crowd cheers loudly, raising their battle axe along with it. Mingyu gulps. He's never going to survive this quest if he's with the son of Loki—they simply won't work. He needs Jeonghan.

“Warriors, come forth.”

Mingyu stands next to Yebin and looks at the mug in front of him. It's been a tradition, since the time that Erik the Red ascended in Valhalla, that all of the warriors who will be sent out to a quest must drink the contents of a mug full of ale. Erik nods at them, signalling for them to drink. Mingyu grabs and jugs down the ale without hesitation. The four of them puts the mugs down in unison and the crowd behind them erupts into a loud cheer. Erik the Red grins, “For the gods!”

“For the gods!” The crowd repeats.

Erik nods towards the direction of massive door, “Now, warriors, you shall begin your quest.”

“If the gods aren't around, how are we supposed to go looking for them?” Wonwoo asks quietly. Minkyung and Yebin move forward, leaving both of them behind. Mingyu looks at Wonwoo and points his head towards the two, “We have no choice.”

“ _Fuck_.” Wonwoo mutters under his breath and Mingyu unconsciously smirks.

They follow the valkyries until they reach past the bifrost bridge and Heimdallr's station, which is still empty as before. Mingyu's father would often joke about how he can always hear Mingyu's thoughts inside Valhalla, making him more cautious about thinking... some inappropriate stuff. They move around the station and Yebin reaches down, “Someone's been here.”

Mingyu looks at Wonwoo and the other just shrugs, “Could be the gods. Wait, how are we going to—”

Minkyung reaches down to grab a vine and swings down. She looks up at them and smiles, “We climb down the Yggdrasil, of course.”

“Lovely,” Mingyu says under his breath. He waits for two valkyries to go down before looking at Wonwoo, who seems frozen in place, “you okay, son of Loki?”

He can hear the other's heart beating loudly without even trying and Wonwoo just laughs nervously, “Let's just say I'm not very fond of high places.”

“Close your eyes,” Mingyu blurts out without thinking. He immediately regrets it but the moment he sees the other's face break down into a softer expression, Mingyu feels all the cells inside his body react, “hold onto me.”

Wonwoo looks at his hand then back up at his face. Mingyu bites the inside of his cheeks to hide his embarrassment, “Quickly, son of Loki, before I change my mind.”

The other takes his outstretched hand, holding it tightly, before they both climb down the World Tree.

 

 

ᛞ

 

 

“Why were we not informed about a giant squirrel?” Wonwoo whispers as they try their best to press their bodies flat against the tree trunk. Mingyu glares at him and looks at Yebin, who's trying her best to fit herself and Minkyung in a leaf.

Minkyung smiles sheepishly, “Actually, we knew about Ratatoskr along time ago, Wonwoo. We—”

“Need to split up,” Yebin tells them quietly, looking around for any sign of the squirrel and pulls Minkyung towards the entrance of hole. The World Tree has a lot of small entrances to Midgard which lead to different places, “You two,” Yebin points at a hole near them, “take that entrance and we'll take this one.”

“Why are we—”

Minkyung drops her gaze and looks at their hands before grinning, “You two look comfy together.”

Wonwoo releases his hand but Mingyu holds it back, “Yebin's right. We need to go. Plus the squirrel's going this way.”

As soon as they feel the Yggdrasil shake, Yebin and Minkyung wave at them before stepping inside the hole. Mingyu feels Wonwoo stiffen beside him, “You ready?”

“Sure,” The other says without looking at him. Mingyu sighs and pulls the other's hand to his left shoulder, causing Wonwoo to move in front of him, then puts his arm around the other so that he's caging him. Mingyu snakes an arm around Wonwoo's waist before looking down on the other's face, “You might want to close your eyes again.”

There are a lot of places in the Nine Realms that Mingyu has already seen but he's never seen something like this before. The stars around them look like chunks of diamonds as their fall continue.

“It's beautiful,” Wonwoo says.

Mingyu snorts, “Are you already impressed, son of Loki?”

Before the other can answer, however, Mingyu feels the gravity pulling them faster to the ground and instead of stars, all he can see are clouds. He feels Wonwoo's nails dig on his back... and then they suddenly stop falling. Mingyu looks down and sees that they're only almost one inch from the ground. Wonwoo pulls away from him and steps down from the ground like nothing happened. The other moves closer to a tree, a helmet carved on the trunk. Mingyu follows Wonwoo and examines the tree, “Where are w—”

He hears a whistling sound going to his direction and Mingyu instinctively reaches an arm out to his left with his palm open as if ready to catch something. He catches the spear and throws it on the ground before turning back. A guy dressed in crimson-colored armor, holding a helmet that looks identical to the one carved on the tree, is looking directly at him with an eyebrow up.

“Junhui, son of Ares,” the man announces before shifting his gaze at Wonwoo, tilting his head to the side with an amused smile forming on his lips, “how may I help you?”


	5. IV

He's falling.

The last thing his boggled mind can remember is climbing down an enormous tree, being chased by a big-ass squirrel (that's not in any way cute when it's thrice as long as the Burj Khalifa), and jumping down inside one of the many bottomless holes drilled in that very same enormous tree's trunk.

Seungcheol wakes up with a start, a loud gasp escaping his mouth as he sits up straight and pats the concrete ground—just to be sure that he is, indeed, already back in the mortal realm. He can still feel the gravity pulling him down, the hollow pit inside his stomach, and the sweat of his palms as he waits for the ground to hit him. Except Seungcheol has no recollection of hitting anything in that bottomless hole, the same way that he has no recollection of how and when they got where they are now.

“You okay?” Jeonghan asks. Seungcheol looks up at him and the first thing that registers to his mind is that the other is glowing—which he thinks, by the way, is one of the side effects of everything that happened to them while climbing down the Yggdrasil.

“Yeah,” he answers, standing up. “What happened?”

“You passed out. Which is quite obvious, if you ask me,” Jeonghan says with his hands on both of Seungcheol's shoulders, supporting him. They both stay silent for a couple of minutes, looking for a dry bench to sit on and get a hold of themselves (or rather, in Seungcheol's case, of himself). Jeonghan looks pretty normal to him—no barfing, no rapid eye movements, no trembling—it's almost as if the other has done this a hundred times before and this one is just another jump for him.

The other helps him sit down on one of the park benches, “It's perfectly understandable, you know, you don't need to explain yourself.”

“What do you mean?”

“Only the children of the Nordic gods can handle the jump,” Jeonghan releases a loud sigh, “and you're not one.”

Seungcheol puts two fingers on both of his temples and slowly draws small circles with them to ease his dizziness, “I get it. I'm an embarrassment. I don't even know why I was in Valhalla in the first place.”

“Most probably because you died in combat,” Jeonghan shrugs, brushing it off like it's not a big deal, “everyone gets in like that.”

“No, I didn't.”

The other throws his hands in the air and sighs in exasperation, “Look here Zeus-ling, I know you probably don't remember half of what happened to you—”

All the noise, including Jeonghan's voice, drowns out as Seungcheol finds himself staring across the street. For the record, his eyesight is excellent (probably the best one in their entire school), yet everything around him seems to move in a blur and the only thing his eyes can focus on are the three beautiful young women dressed in white robes that are standing under a flickering lamp post. The last one on the right is staring straight into his eyes. Seungcheol's sure that he has seen her somewhere from before. She gives him a knowing smile and the three of them disappears in a blink of an eye.

“—else would you be asking about the Underworld when you woke up? You get me?”

“I said _**didn't**_ die,” He manage to croak out. His neck feels like someone just strangled him, enough to choke out all the voice left in his system. “At the time, I think maybe I did... but now, I remember.”

Jeonghan, on the other hand, is expecting something from him, though. The other looks at him, clearly interested about what's going to let loose from that smart mouth of his. “Then what, pray tell, do you think happened to you?”

Seungcheol lifts up his head and turns to Jeonghan. He tries to study him, to see if he can make anything out of the other, and fails. Those swirling black eyes are enough to unnerve him right there and then. The only thing that's evident from Jeonghan, which everyone can definitely notice, is that the other died fighting the World Serpent—or so he says—yet he doesn't have the one mark which symbolizes that he's dead and is taken up to Valhalla. **The Valknut**. A tattoo a consisting of three interlocked triangles which is more commonly known as the tattoo of a slain warrior.

“Ever heard of the Moirai?” Seungcheol asks after a moment of silence and staring.

Jeonghan sighs and melts on the bench, practically lying on it with his back pressed firmly againts the backrest as he looks up to the sky, “The Fates? Clotho, Lachesis, and Atropos? I did.”

“You know, for a son of a Norse god,” Seungcheol starts, impressed with his new friend's knowledge of his culture when he knows only little about them (since he can't pronounce the names right), “you sure know a lot of stuff that aren't... Norse- _ish_.”

“I've devoted my entire life in Valhalla to reading and training, son of Zeus; books are the only ones that are keeping me sane. Now, what's the relevance of that question?”

“That night, I was fighting a giant,” Seungcheol shifts and imitates Jeonghan's position, “it's something I haven't seen before. It breathes fire like a charred dragon.”

Jeonghan tensed. “You can see them?”

“Yeah,” Seungcheol answers, giving him a 'well, duh' face and continues on, “I almost killed the giant when I saw the Fates watching me and then the next thing I know, I'm in your room in Valhalla.”

“How can you be so sure that you didn't die?”

Seungcheol looks at the other, “because I saw Atropos cut a thread with my own eyes, Jeonghan... and the one she cut wasn't glowing with my aura.”

 

 

Ω

 

 

“How do you suppose we get to your camp?”

“Oh, no. You're not coming with me,” Seungcheol says, stopping as they reach a dead end, “and it's a school, not a camp. We're not Romans.”

He fishes out a drachma (which always appears in their—demigods—pockets in case of emergency). Jeonghan snatches it away just before Seungcheol can toss it, “I'm coming with you, whether you like it or not.”

Seungcheol sighs, “Look, I'm grateful and all for your efforts of getting me back here but my dad's probably going nuts.”

“Didn't it ever occur to you that our gods are telling us something—”

“ _Geez, I was unconscious for, I_ _don't know, a day and a half? How would you expect me to know what the gods are telling us?_ ”

“—missing for days and your Fates sent you to me.”

Seungcheol stops and looks at the other, digesting what he just said. He can't deny the fact that Jeonghan, indeed, has a point. Why else would he end up in Valhalla and not in the Underworld?

“Missing?” He asks without thinking.

Jeonghan looks away, completely uncomfortable about the question, “Our gods. The whole of Asgard's been quiet for days now and we don't know where they are. Hiding, maybe? Formulating a plan to push back Ragnarök? I just don't know what it is that they're not telling us. That's why I came down here with you,” The other looks at him, straight into his eyes, “I was hoping you'll be the answer to all these questions in my head.”

“Give me the drachma,” Seungcheol finally says after a long dramatic pause. He feels like Jeonghan isn't the type show his soft side to other people, especially not to someone whom he just met, and it triggers something inside Seungcheol—compassion? Sympathy? _**Care**_? He doesn't know. For some reason, Seungcheol sees Jeonghan as a reflection of him.

The other hesitantly places the coin on his palm and Seungcheol releases a sigh before tossing the coin up, “Bro, you know where to take us.”

The coins puffs into thin air and Seungcheol steps closer to Jeonghan, “Stay close.” He says under his breath. They feel the ground shake beneath them and soon enough they feel the air sucking them up. Seungcheol feels the panic rising inside Jeonghan and chuckles, “Don't worry, it's just my brother.”

Everything around them whirls in high-speed as if they're inside a tornado's vortex.

“When you said it's just your brother,” Jeonghan eyes him suspiciously, “did you mean Hermes?”

Seungcheol nods, “The benefits of being the only living mortal son of Zeus in the modern world. Don't worry, it'll be all over in a moment.”

“Oh.”

“What about you?”

Jeonghan looks at him, confused, “What about me?”

Seungcheol shrugs in response, “Only mortal son of Odin?”

“I'm dead,” Jeonghan chuckles, “but yes, I'm the last one. My father never sired anyone else when I fell to the World Serpent. It's too dangerous for a son of Odin,” Jeonghan shakes his head and looks at the different places whirling around them, “that's why he let everyone believe that I'm a son of Thor.”

“How old are you?”

Jeonghan smiles at him, “Probably a thousand years older than you?”

“No way,” Seungcheol says in awe. The other doesn't even look like he's older than him.

Jeonghan snorts. “Yes way.”

“How did you even manage to stay in Valhalla that long?”

“I don't. I'm always here in Midgard whenever I'm bored. Reading. Writing. Practicing magic. Waiting for the doomsday,” Jeonghan releases a sigh of frustration, like he's carrying the weight of the world on his shoulders and is too tired to carry on, “it's tiring, you know? Waiting for the Ragnarök to come.”

“I'm sorry,” Seungcheol says softly.

Jeonghan shakes his head and smiles, “What else can we do? It's been prophesied. I just wish I can see Heimdallr one last time before all of that happens.”

“What's with Heimdallr?”

The other raises a brow at him, “Haven't you heard? He's the fairest of us all.”

Seungcheol chuckles, “Well, not to brag but we have Eros, Heracles, Hermes, Apollo, Ares, and...” he looks at Jeonghan with a knowing smile, “Seungcheol.”

Jeonghan snorts and rolls his eyes, “You are officially the vainest guy I have ever met.”

Seungcheol winks at him the same time the whirling vortex clears up and all they see in front of them are trees. He inhales deeply and releases it slowly. Seungcheol smiles at the trees. **_He's home_**.

“Jeonghan, son of Odin, I welcome you to our school.”

The other looks at him with a _what-the-fuck-are-you-talking-about_ face, since everything around them are trees, when the veil slowly lifts up, revealing a large gate made from concrete and steel with a large  **αἰὲν ἀριστεύειν** engraved on it.

“Ever to excel,” Jeonghan murmurs beside him. Seungcheol looks back at him, “You can read Greek?”

“Nope, just a lucky guess. Iliad 6. 208. I told you, I like to read.”

He snorts and motions towards the gate, “Shall we?”

 

 

Ω

 

 

Seungcheol's pretty sure he heard Seokmin yell the very moment both of them step inside the school's grounds. He watches in amusement as Seokmin run towards the infirmary, ready to broadcast that he's back.

“Who is he?” Heracles asks, suddenly appearing in front of them to block their way.

Seungcheol scratches the back of his neck, “This is Jeonghan. Jeonghan, this is Heracles, god of heroes.”

Heracles studies them with narrow eyes and whistles. Sicheng and Atom appear behind them, seizing their wrists.

“What the fuck?” Seungcheol exclaims. He doesn't even bother to tell his brother that he's sorry for cussing in front of a god as he tries his best to loosen the rope.

Heracles nods at his two sons, “Escort them to Olympus. I'm sure father wants to see you.”

“Tied up?!” Seungcheol shouts. A loud thunder booms overhead.

“There won't be a need for that,” says deep voice from behind them. Seungcheol freezes on his spot, a cold gust of wind blows on his cheeks, causing the hairs on his back to stand up. He knows exactly whose voice it is before slowly turning back to he see Zeus with a broad smile painted on his face as he stares directly at Jeonghan, “We meet again, son of Odin.”

Seungcheol looks back and forth between them, jaw on the ground, “ _ **Again?**_ ”


	6. V

“I have intel,” Soonyoung says, not even daring to show the slightest hint of him panting after running down a full grown mountain. It has taken him about five minutes (normally a thirty-minute walk) of basically sprinting like there's an army of the undead chasing him from the base of the mountain to reach the tent and **_boy_** , he is more than tired.

 _Never show that you're weak to anybody_ , his father used to tell him when he was still talking to Soonyoung, especially not to _**him**_.

The Imperator, of course, doesn't look up from his papers and Soonyoung almost rolls his eyes. _Ever the air headed minion_ , he thinks. He's a rank lower than him, which makes him a great disappointment for his father. How could his father, the mighty god of war, bear a child who lost to a female ‘counterpart’ of him? That's just plainly unacceptable.

“I have intel,” He tries again. Jihoon looks up at him with a blank expression before ordering the two guards standing behind him to leave the tent. “Speak.”

“Cut the crap, Jihoon,” Soonyoung mutters, just enough for the other to hear. Even with an ancient goddess as his mother, Jihoon possesses an aura that's strong enough to identify him as a son of Jupiter. The other allows himself to grin a little and motions him to sit on the one of the chairs in front of his table, “As you wish.”

“The Greeks are coming,” Soonyoung says as soon as he sits down. There's no way to soften the blow and Jihoon isn't exactly the type to make small talks before moving onto the topic. He sees the other's expression harden, his lips forming into a thin line, and the fire in his eyes burns brightly as he stares at Soonyoung without saying anything.

Soonyoung suddenly finds his dagger interesting, throwing it in the air a few times before sticking it on Jihoon's wooden table, “What's the plan?”

There's no denying that they hate the Greeks. The old gods clearly favor them more than they do the Romans. From architecture, customs, arts—for some people, the Romans are nothing but unoriginal, aggressive copycats. Jihoon's reaction is definitely understandable.

“Nothing,” Jihoon says after the fire in his eyes burned down. Soonyoung couldn't hide his shock, even turning his full upper body to look and see if the other's joking. _He's not_.

“Nothing?” Soonyoung asks, incredulous. “There's a war coming, Jihoon. I can sense it from miles away. I can't just stand here and do nothing.”

Jihoon looks up at him and cocks his head to side, as if challenging him, “If you're so great then why aren't you the Imperator?”

Soonyoung opens his mouth before closing it again, the words just won't come out. Of course, the other would pull his rank against him like that. Jihoon sighs, “You're not the only son of war, Soonyoung. The only difference between us is that my mother is also a goddess of peace. Trust me, I know what I'm doing.”

Soonyoung doesn't. He doesn't trust Jihoon with anything. Even with his wolves. For some unknown reason, everyone seems to favor the son of Bellona more than Soonyoung—the son of Mars, brother to Remus and Romulus, and the one whom Mithras gladly voted for to be the next Imperator. No matter how many times he'd try, the puzzle just won't fit. He's fast, knows how to wield any type of weapon, capable of killing a hundred men on his own with a sword, a more capable centurion than Jihoon would ever be, and really good-looking. Soonyoung doesn't understand the hype about just being the only son of a war goddess.

Jihoon's intimidating, yes, but he's also soft inside.

Sooyoung has mastered the art of reading a person's movement in a second. Unintentionally. It's one of those traits that his father passed onto him, thinking he was worthy of bearing his powers. Just imagine Mars' disappointment when he learned that a son of Bellona ended his _My-Sons-Are-The-Only-Ones-Capable-Of-Being-An-Imperator_ streak. He likes reading Jihoon's movements the most and right now, as the other writes inexplicably fast on the parchment, Soonyoung can sense his unease.

“Jihoon,” Soonyoung starts.

“Go,” Jihoon commands, his tone different from his usual one, “attend to your duties. You are no longer needed.”

Soonyoung eyes the other for a moment before willing himself to stand and drag himself out of the tent. He sighs as the cold wind hits him and looks to his side, “He won't listen to me.”

“You damn well know that Jihoon doesn't listen to anybody,” Minghao snorts, walking alongside of him. They walk in silence, occasionally checking each platoon they passed by. Soonyoung makes a mental note of how the winds are changing their course, warning them about something.

“Fall out!” Minghao commands the platoon, pulling Soonyoung out of his thoughts. He turns to face the other, but Minghao shakes his head, “Whatever this is, it's going to be bad.”

Soonyoung's brain takes a moment to process what Minghao's talking about when he looks up and sees the dark clouds rolling across the sky, almost covering the field in its dark, gloomy shadow, “Jupiter?”

“No,” Minghao straightens his back, “it's from another world.”

 

 

♂

 

 

The gods rarely visit them. Most of the time they're in their ‘humble abode’ doing Jupiter knows what (probably playing video games), leaving them on their own to train an army and live like normal human beings. Their camp is entirely different from the Greeks, Diana once mentioned. The Greeks have a school for halflings to learn and train and discover themselves, whereas the Romans have a camp for them to train and train and train until they're dead. To be fair, Diana did mention that the gods rarely visit the Greeks, too.

“What are you doing down here?” Soonyoung asks the goddess while chewing his bacon. He quickly grabs a plate, fills it, and gives it to Diana.

“There's something strange going on,” The goddess says, scooping a spoonful of mashed potatoes, “I don't exactly know what it is but it's definitely not from one of us.”

“From the Greeks?” Soonyoung offers, earning him a glare from Diana, “Wave the white flag already, dear one. The war with the Greeks ended centuries ago. Unless...”

The goddess stops, dropping her spoon with a clank before standing up. Soonyoung looks at her, confused, “What is it?”

“It's starting,” Diana mutters under her breath, eyes widening as she looks up at Soonyoung, “How long has it been snowing in the northern region?”

“It's been years now, I heard. It's bad up there.” Soonyoung answers. They've been receiving an awful lot of reports about it, but he didn't think it would be about something big, “Is there something going on?”

“I'm not entirely sure,” Diana says, “I'll tell you next time.”

The goddess murmured something intangible before turning her back, leaving the tent with a bright light. Soonyoung opens his eyes and raises a brow up when he sees Jihoon across of him, where Diana was sitting just a few seconds ago, with a plate full of mixed vegetables.

“Diana?” Jihoon asks without looking up at him. Soonyoung just stares at the other without answering, propping an elbow up on the table to support his head with his fist. Jihoon glares at him before returning his attention on his plate, “It's bad to put your elbow on the table when someone's eating.”

Soonyoung grins, “Since when did you become so uptight?”

“Since when did you care about my uptightness?”

“I don't know,” Soonyoung starts, the grin on his face broadens, “we used to be friends back then.”

Jihoon snorts, “Yeah, for five seconds because you needed my help during the Chariot Race. That was, what? _Six_? Seven years ago? Then we never talked again until last year—when I became the Imperator.”

“You do pay attention to me, don't you?” Soonyoung teases. Jihoon rolls his eyes at him, cheeks turning to a cute shade of pink. It's half-true, though, he only talks to Jihoon when there's a disturbance nearby, which rarely happens given that the field is heavily armed.

“I don't.”

Soonyoung hums, keeping the silly grin on his face. He continues watching Jihoon eat when Minghao appears on the entrance, looking at both of them with as if about to question why they're talking to each other, and salutes to Jihoon. The other nods his head in acknowledgment, still completely occupied with his potato.

Minghao sucks in a quick breath, “We found two girls wandering around the field, sir. They... requested to see you immediately.”

“Romans?” Soonyoung asks, earning him a glare from Jihoon. The other cocks an eyebrow up at Minghao, seeking for an answer. Minghao shakes his head, “They didn't identify themselves, sir.”

Before Soonyoung could open his mouth, Jihoon orders Minghao to bring the girls in. Minghao whistles and two guards appear with two girls. One of them is smiling straight at Soonyoung, eyes twinkling like stars in the sky. Their staring contest abruptly ends when Jihoon clears his throat, “Who are you?”

“We're not Romans,” the girl with the twinkling eyes says, “but we have a gift for you.”

Soonyoung watches as the girl pulls something from her purse. It takes him a moment to realize that it's a large spear, symbols carefully carved on the pointy end. He can hear the thrum of power coming from spear and it makes Soonyoung uncomfortable. The spear doesn't belong in their world. He looks to Jihoon, whose eyes are fixed on the spear.

“Jihoon—”

The other beams, which never happened before, “It would be my pleasure to tour you around our camp.”

Something is clearly _**wrong**_.


End file.
